Carton-blank-feeding machine.



G. A. ROBINSON.

CARTON BLANK FEEDING MAGHlN-E. APPL'lCATlON FILED MAY L0, I916.

1,252,030, Patented Jan. 1,1918.

8 SHEETSSHEET le. A. ROBINSON CARTGN BLANK FEEDING MACHINE.

; I APPLICATION FILED MAYIO, I916 Patnfd Jan. 1,1918.

8 SHEETS-BEEII'L 2 G. A. ROBINSON.

CARTON BLANK FEEDING MACHINE, APPLICATION FILED MAY 10. I916.

1,252,030. Patented Jan. 1,1918.

8 SHEDT$"$HEBT 3.

s. A. ROBlNSON'. CARTON BLANK FEEDiNG MACRWQE. APPLICATION FILED MAYIO,rs ifi 1,252,030. Y Patented Jan. 1,1918

G. A. nomusou.

CARTON BLANK FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MY 1:0. lSl.

1,252,030; Patented Jan. 1,1918.

lrl l A k x I @Igxa Y haw.

G. A; RO'MNSON.

- CARTON BLANK FEEDING MACHINE. 'F APRLlCAIlQN EILED. no. me,

1 ML 1,252,030., Patented Jan. 1,1918.

' 8 SHBETB-BEEET 6..

G. A. ROBINSON.

CARTON BLANK FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED ,MAY!0,1916.

Patented J an. 1, 1918.

8 SHBBTSSHEET 7.

M .KW

e. A." nomwsow.

CARTON BLANK FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATIQNHLED MAY w. ms.

1,252,030. Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

Wpw;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-. GEORGE A. ROBINSON, F WOLLAS'ION, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TOPNEUMATIC SCALE CORPORATION, LIMITED, 0F QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS,AiCORPORATION'QF nuns.

CARTON-BLANK-FEEDING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

Original application filed July 7, 1914, Serial No. 849,396. Divided andthis application filed May 10,

1918. Serial No. 96,520.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gronon A. ROBINSON, citizen of the United States,residing at Wollaston, county of Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Carton-Blank-FeedingMachines, of which the following is a carton, andhaving end flaps toform the bottomand top of the carton.

' Preferably a special blank which will be hereinafter described isprovided. The

blanks are carried by suitable mechanism from a receiving place to amagazine or holder in which they are stacked and from whichthey aretaken one by one. Adhesive is applied to the end sealing flaps and tothe s1de sealing 1a and then the blank is transferred to the ormingmechanism.

' One object of the blank from the stack and feeding it to the mechanismfor forming the carton. An-

other feature of the invention relates tofthe means .for automaticallysupplying blanks to the magazine, and still 'another object of theinvention .is to provide means whereby the su ply of blanks to themagazine is con- I elevator mechanismfor' carryin to the holder andcertain of t e overhead mechanism bein removed and also omitting trolleby the height of the stack of blanks in the magazine.

- The invention (will be iullv understood when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings and the novel features thereof will be pointedout and clearly defined in the claims at the close of thisspecification.

In the drawin s Figure 1 is a plan View oflamachine em odying theinvention, the the blanks themechanism or forming the blank into acarton.

Fig. 2 is a right hand end elevation of the machine shown in Fig. I;including also resent invention is to provide means for withdrawing thebottom the elevator mechanism for carrying the blanks to the holder.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of'Fig. 1. i

Fig. 4: is a detail view of the gluing mechanism for the end formingfiaps partly in section and of the mechanism for separatin theprojecting flap of the lowermost blan from the others in the stack,taken just after. the beginning of the act of separation by bending downthe flaps ofthe lowermost blank.

. Fig. 5 is a view of the same parts as in Fig. 4L at a little laterstage in the operation, when the flaps of the bottom blank are morefully separated from the flaps of the superposed blanks, by bending, butbefore the blank is wn out of the stack.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the jaws for.

withdrawing the blanks from the magazine.

Fig. 7 is a section through the case which contains jaws. 4

Fig. 8 1s a plan of one form of blank the mechanism for-operating thewhich is specially adaptcdfor use in the machine.

F ig. 9 is a plan partly in section showing the mechanism fortransferring the blanks to the forming mechanism.

Fig. 10 is an elevation showing one pair of rollers shown in Fig. 9. i

Fig. 11 is a side-elevation partly in section, showing mechanism forapplying glue to the sealing lap; a Z

., Fig. 12 isa plan View of the chute for the blanks from the-top of-theelevator magazine.

Fig. 13 is a section on line 134 13 "of Fig. 1-2. V

' Fig. 14.19. a ri ht hand end elevationof the upper part 0 theelevatormeohanism as viewed in Fig. 2. I I

Fig. 15 is aleft hand end elevation ofthe upper portion of the elevatormechanism.

Fig. 16 is a side elevation of the upper portion of the elevatormechanism as viewed from the right hand end of Figs Qand 14.

Fig. 17 is a sectional view. on line-17 17 of F1g. 3, showmg a.- portionof the .nj echanism for drivin the ews which withdraw the blank .from te ma azine. y,

In order to better on, erstand the machine attention is first directedtothe prefer form of blank to be employed, and as 'shown in Fig.' 8. Thesaid shows the under to the.

- face of the blank which will be the outer face after the blank isfolded on the former block. The blank 1 is cut and scored to I cut '1,0, between the flaps and g and between 9 and h respectively do' notextend quite to the outer edge of the flaps, so that are cut clear tothe outer edge.

there is still aslight union between said flaps f, g, h which can beeasily severed at the proper time, while the line of cut p be tween theflaps h and i and the line of cut between all of the top closing flaps7', la, Z, m The reason for this is that it is desired to retain theprojecting flaps f, g and h all in better sup .porting connection witheach other and to prevent any one of said three end flaps from droppingbelow the others while they are in the holder or magazine waiting to bedrawn out as will appear more clearly in the description hereinafter. Itis not necessary to make any special provision for the flap 2'.

The holder or magazine in which the blanks 1 are stacked consists of aplurality of horizontal rolls 2 spaced apart from each other in form ofa grid on which the pile of blanks rests, and four upright corner posts3 consisting of angle bars which have wings at right angles to eachother so that each post will have faces which engage two edges of theblank. The rolls 2 are mounted in vertical plates 4 which are supportedby studs 5 pro ecting from side walls 6 which form a part of the frameof the machine. The blanks are supported on rollers so that the bottomblank may be more easily drawn out from beneath the weight of the otherblanks in the stack. It will be noted from the plan view, Fig. 1, thatwhen the blanks are in the stack the bottom end closing flaps.

f, g, h, 2' project beyond the supporting rolls 2 of the holder and areunsupported on their under side.

The elevator mechanism for keeping the magazine supplied with blanks isshown in Figs. 2 and 12-16 and will be more particula'rly describedhereinafter, as it is actuated in connection with the gluing mechanismwhich should be first described. The blanks have to be transferred fromthe magazine already described to a position where the panels are foldedin tubular form and sealed and then the bottom end closing flapsarefolded and sealed. The folding mechanism is not shown in the drawings ofthis divisional application as it is the subject of claims in theoriginal application. The luing of the side sealing lap and of the ottomend closing flaps takes place before the blank is carried to the formingblock,

and just before it leaves the magazine. The

advances and seizes the blank by the unglued flap g and pulls it outfrom the stack, and While this is being done the side sealing lap e isglued, and then the. blank is car ried to the forming mechanism. Themechanism for doing this work will now be described. See particularly Figs. 1, 2, -l10.

A shaft 8 is journaled in two parallel bars 9, 10 (see Figs. 3, l, 5)which are tied together and form a reciprocable carriage, the bars 9 and10 of the said carriage being formed for a portion of their length withteeth which engage respectivel with spur gears 11, 11 mounted on arocker shaft 12 whereby a reciprocating movement is given to thecarriage.

The rocker shaft 12 is actuated by mechanism'as follows,-(see Figs. 1,2-and 3.)

A spur gear 611 is mounted" on shaft 12. See Fig. 3. A segment gear 612is mounted on a rocker shaft 629' and engages with said spur gear 611. Alever 613 is made fast at one end to said. rocker shaft 629 and itsother end is pivotally connected with one end of a rod 61% whose lowerend is connected with a lever 615 fulcrumed on'shaft 607, said leverhaving a roll which engages with a cam path in one face of a cam onshaft 50 said cam not being shown in the drawings, as it is concealed bythe cam 604. on the same shaft.

Mounted on theshaft 8 is a spur ear 13 which engages with a stationaryrac 14: so that as the carriage 9, 10 recip'rocates, the shaft 8 willrotate in one direction or the other according to the direction-oftravel of the carriage. (See Figs. 3, 4, 5.) Mounted fast on shaft 8 isa yoke lever 15 which carries a pad holder 16 having a segmental face onwhich are mounted the segmental gluing pads 18, 19 which serve to applyadhesive to-the flaps f, h, and i, of the blank. The pad 18 is of asuitable width and location on the holder to'apply'adhesive to the flapf, and the pad .19 is of a greater width carriage reciprocats, the enagement of the gear 13 with the rack 14ml cause the pads to swing.around in the arc of acircl e.

Mounted on a shaft 20 journaled in thg frame of the machine is a gluefeed roll-2-1 which dips into a glue receptacle 22. Said glue feed roll21 is continuously driven. A gluing roll 23 is journaled in the swingingends of the two parallel levers 24 which are respectively pivoted attheir other ends to the carria e. A spring 25 under tension which isastened at one end to the bar 9 and which is fastened at its other endto one of the levers 24, and, a similar spring connected with the bar 10and the other lever 24 tend to pull the levers 24 and the roll 23upward. A stop screw 26 limits the upward position of each of the levers24 and of the roll 23. Said stop screws 26 are mounted in brackets 27which are adjustably secured to the bars 9, 10 respectively by means ofscrews 28 which engage respectively with a horizontally elongated slot29 in the bracket. When the carriage 9, 10 is in its rearward positionas shown in Fig. 3, the gluing roll 23 will bear against the glue feedroll 21 and the gluing pads will extend rearwardly. When the carriagemoves forward, that is, to the right as viewed in Fig. 2, the glue padholders and pads will, by reason of the rotary movement of the spur gear13;, sweep forward and then up and overinto the position shown in Fig.5, and in so doing the outer faces of the pads will wipe along over theperiphery of the glue feed roll 23, the said glue feed rollyielding'backward to permit the pads to sweep past, and then the springs25 will bringthe levers 24 and pads back into the position shown in Fig.5 with the levers 24 hearing against the stop screws 26.

The driving mechanism of the carriage 9,

10 is geared in such manner that the surface speed of rotation of thepads 18, 19 will be the same as the speed of horizontal travel of thecarriage. When the carriage moves forward, that is, to the right asviewed in Fig. 2 the continued onwardmovement of the carriage will bringthe pads first into the position shown in Fig 4 and thence into theposition shown-in *ig. 5, and in so doing the pads will wipe-the undersurface of the flaps f, h, 2'. The flaps of the lowermost blankwlll'stick to the pad and be bent down as shown in Fig. 5 and the foot48 of the lever 46 which will have been moved backclear of thestackpreviously tot-beengagement of the lue pad with the'lowermostblank willollow in behind the. pads toen age the under side of, the flaps of the.b' ank'next above the one. engaged by the pad as shown in Figs. '4' and5; and as will be described hereinafter. On the return movement of thecarriage the pad holders and pads will r tate backward but the separatorfoot 48 will still remain engaged with the flap of the blank next abovethe lowermost as shown in Fig. 5.

A narrow glue roll 30 of sufiicient width of eriphery to glue the narrowsealing lap e is ournaled on one end of a lever 31, the other end ofsaid lever being mounted on a rocker shaft 33 in the frame of themachine. Means are provided for rotating the shaft33 in a direction toswing the lever 31 forward and u to bring the glue roll 30 into positionwhere when the lowermost blank is drawn out from the holder after the'end forming flaps have been glued the sealing lap a will trail over theperiphery of the glue roll 30 and thereby apply a strip of adhesive tothe said lap, and the return rocking movement of the shaft 33 will bringthe roll 30 back into engagement with the glue feed roll 2]. Themechanism for thus rocking the shaft 31 is as follows: r

()n the other end of shaft 33 from tlrfat which carries the glue roll 30there is mounted a spur gear 32 which engages with a vertical rack 34,(see Figs. 2 and 11) which moves in guide ways in the frame. One end ofa connecting rod is pivotally connectedwith the lower end of rack 34,the other end of said rod being pivotally connected with an arm 36mounted on a rocker shaft 37. An arm 38 also fast on said rocker shaft37 is pivotally connected with one end of'a rod 39, the other end ofsaid rod being connected with a cam lever 601which is pivoted at 602 andcarries a roll 603 which engages with a cam 604 on shaft 50. See Figs. 2and 3. The means for gripping andpulling out the glued bottom blankfrom-beneath'the others consists of two jaws, 40, 41, the lower one ofwhich 40, is mounted on a lever 42,

pivoted on shaft 43 mounted in a holder 44.

(see Fig. 6) so as to .open and close with re-. lation to the upper jaw41 which is fixed so far as opening and closing is concerned.

The fixed upper jaw 41 is secured to the angular holder 44 consisting oftwo parallel vertical plates which form 0 posite ends of the holder andin which the shaft 43 is mounted. The jaws and bolder are mounted onareciprocable carrier which moves them tcli grip the blank and backagainwith the an r.

In order not to smear the jaws with the glue, they are arranged to gripthe unglued flap 9, only and means are provided to com,-

plete to the outer edge the slits n, 0, which aline with the slits n, 0,so as to complete the cut on the same line, but the jaws will close inon the flap 9 and firmly grip it.

As the blanks lie in the stack, the flaps of the lowermost; blank areoverlaid by the flaps of the blank above and it is necessary to in someway provide a clearance space between the flap 9 and the overlying flapin order to permit the upper aw of the gripper to enter and obtain agrip. Advantage is taken of the fact that as the glue pads 18, 19 rollover the flaps f and h the glue will cause the flaps to slightly adhereto the pads and be pulled down." This allows the insertion of aseparator lever between the downwardly bent glued flaps f, h and theoverlying flaps of the carton above it so as to lift the overlyingfiapsenough to admit the upper jaw 41. The separator mechanism shown for thepurpose above described is as follows: (See Figs. 3, 4, 5).. Levers 46mounted on a rocker shaft 47 are each formed with a foot 48, and are solocated that they will be rocked by the shaft 47 in such a way as tocause the feet '48 of the levers to enter between the slightlydownwardly'curled glued flaps f, h and the flaps of the overlying blankafter the flaps have been glued but before the jaws 40, 41 have advancedfar enough to grip the fiap' g. By the time the jaw 41 is ready to passbetween the flap 9 and its overlying flap, the said overlying flap willbe lifted in the manner above described. The shaft -17 is actuated bymeans of a cam (not shown) on shaft 50, acting through lever 51 whichhas at one end a roll 52 engaging with the said cam, its other end beingfast on a rocker shaft 605. Said cam is not shown, being behind the cam604 shown in Fig. Q. Mounted on said rocker shaft 605 is a lever 53whose other end is pivotallyconnected with one end of a rod 5a which inturn is ivotally connected with an arm606 on shaft 47 (-See Figs. 2 and3.) a

The carrier for the gripper jaws, when in itsstarting position, is at apoint intermediate its most forward and its most backward position, andit first moves forward to grip the blank, then it moves back to the'rearmost position, to pull the blank clearof the stackso that theungripped .end of the blank will fall onto 'a movable support beneath,then the carrier will move forward again still gripping the blank andpushing it along on said support beneath the stack holder, moving nearlyas far forward as on its first forward stroke, but preferabl not quiteas far, so as to position the blah on said support while the support isstationary, then the jaws will relax their grip and the carrier willmove back to its original starting, position ready for the nextblank-and the lever 46 willbe turned back to withdraw the foot 48 fromthe stack.

The said movable support will be caused to descend and deposit the blankon a track, and mechanism will then cause it to be positioned beneaththe former block ready to be folded.

The jaw carrier consists of a box 55 mounted on tie rods .85 which arecarried gear .57 mounted on a ing stroke to the jaw carrier previouslyreferred to. See Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7.

An internal gear 59 and a plate 60 are both loosely mounted on shaft 58and are dove tailed together by a sliding tongueand groove fit so thatone may rotate independently of the other. See Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 17. Twostuds 61, 62 pass through the plate 60 diametrically opposite to eachother, being firmly clamped to the plate by a nut on the threaded endthereof and a shoulder which is drawn against the inner face of theplate when the nut is set up. Two pinions 63, 64 are mounted loosely onsaid studs 61, 62 respectively, and both pinions engage with a pinion 65fast on shaft 58.

A lever 66 is formed with a bearing 67 through which the hub 68 of theplate 60 passes loosely, the said lever having arms ,with elongatedsegmental slots 69, 70 concentric with the shaft 58 and diametricallyopposite each other. The lever 66 is clamped to the plate 60 by bolts 71which pass through the said segmental slots and into the plate 60. Theelongated segmental slots permit adjustment of the lever 66 withrelation to the plate 60.

Lever 66 is pivotally connected with one end of a connecting rod 73.(see Figs. 1, 2 and 3) the other end of said rod being conneeted withone arm of a bell crank lever 74. fulcrumed on stud 75, the other arm ofsaid bell crank 74 being pivotally connected with-one end of aconnecting rod 76. whose other end is pivotally connected with one endof a lever 77,- said lever 77 being fulcrumed atits other end on a stud607 and carrying intermediate its ends a roll which .engages with a campath in a double cam (not shown) on shaft 50, which thereby actuates thelever 66, plate 60. pinjons 63,

64, and 65 and shaft 58. the internal gear 59 being controlled by thearm 72 and itsv connections. on shaft .50.

The lever arm 72 which projects from the internalgear 59 is connectedpivotally with one end of'a connecting rod 78, whose other end ispivotally connected with one end of a lever 79 which is fulorumed at itsother end on stud 607 and carries intermediate its ends a roll whichengges with a cam path Saidcam is behind cam 604 in said double cani whichactuates lever 77.

i This last cam through its said connection;

actuates lever 72, internal gear 59, pinions 63,64 and 65 and shaft 58.The rotation of shaft 58 actuates gear 57, racks 56 and the j awcarrier.

Said cam which actuates the lever 66 and same time that the internalgear 59 begins its reverse movement, the plate 60 will begin to rotatein a direction opposite to the rotation of the internal gear, and theircombined movmeent 'will bring the jaw carrier .back .to the full.rearward position, thus drawing the blank completely out of the pile.Then the continued action of said cam will cause the plate 60 andinternal gear 59 to reverse their directions of rotation and reverse therotation of shaft 58, and move the jaw carrier forward nearly to thesame forward position where it gripped the bjlank, but not quite so, farforward, then back to the starting point by the action of the. internalgear 59.

.The jaws are normally retained closed.

Meansare providedto open the jaws on the.

' first forward stroke so as to receive the flap of the blank betweenthem, then to close the jaws onto the flap and retain the grip until theend of the second forward stroke, that is, untiltheblank is deposited onthe tilting support beneath. the magazine or stack holder. The saidmechanism is as follows:

See Fig. 7. A lever 80 is made fast to shaft 43 on which the movable jaw42is mounted.

' Saidlever is pivotally connected with one end of a rod 81 whose otherend is pivotally connected with one'end of a lever 82 which is mountedfast on a rocker haft 83. The

connecting rod 81 thus makes a. sort of toggle joint. with the lever 82,and when the rod 81 and the lever 82 are in a straight line with .eachother-as shown in full lines in Fig. 7 the jaws 42, 45 will be closedtogether.

A spring 84 coiled around the shaft 83 and connected at one end with thelever 82 and connected at itsother end with a. stud 85 is under-tension.and tends to' hold the toggle joint in the position for closing thejaws.

A lever 86 made. fast at one end to the rocker shaft 83, utside of thebox 55 extends rearwardly and upwardly and carries at its free end aroller 87. Ajnm 88 is mounted on a rocker shaft 89 and projectsrcarwa-rdly and upwardly. .See Figs. 1, 2, 3.

An arm 90 projects from the cam 88 and carries a stop pin 91, preferablyadjustable, which engages a fixed abutment 92 to limit the upward swingof said cam 88, and iswith the cam 88, and rides under it and therebytips down the rear end of said lever 86 and rocks the shaft 83. Thisbends the toggle joint formed by the rod 81 and lever 82 as shown indotted lines in Fig. 7 thereby rocking the shaft 43 and opening thelower jawAQ. The jaw will remam open until the jaw carrier has movedforward far enough for the roll 87 on lever 86 to pass out fromengagement with the cam 88 and the parts are so,adjusted that the saiddisengagement will not occur until the jaws have moved their fullforward stroke to receive the flap of the carton blank between them.When the disengagement from the cam 88 occurs, the spring 84 will closethe jaws into ripping engagement with the flap of the b ank and retainthe grip until positively insenga'ged.

Then the jaw carrier moves back from the first forward stroke the roll87 on lever 86 will engage the upper side of the cam 88 and turn saidcam 88 down, pulling back the stop pin 91 against tension of the spring93, without opening the jaws, but whenit goes forward again .the roll 87on lever 86 will and open the jaws. During this second forward strokethe jaws will push the carton blank forward on the support beneath thestack holder. The movable or tilting support beneath the stack holder towhich reference has been made is as follows (see Figs. 1, 2 and 8.) Twoyoke levers 100 are each fulcrumed at one end on a stud 101 on which thesaid yoke can rock, its other end being free to move u and down. Eachyoke lever is formed wit adownwardly extending U-shaped portionintermediate its ends, and the base of this lit-shaped ortion ispivotally connected 'at 102 with t e upper end of the rod 103, the lowerend of said'rod 103 being pivotally .connectedwith one arm of abeILcrank lever again engage the under side of the cam 88 104. fast onshaft 105, the'other arm of said lever 104 being pivotally connectedwith one end of a rod 106, the other end of said rod 106 beingconneetedwith .one end of a lever 107 whose other end is pivoted onshaft 602 and carries intermediate its ends a roll which enga' es with acam (not shown) on shaft 50; eeFig. 3.

The upper side of each yoke leverlOO. is provided with lugs whichsupport two rails 108, 109, said rails 108 and'109 being in alinementwith each other, but with a space byany suitable means.

between their adjacent ends to allow them to straddle parts of themachine which would otherwise interfere with their movement. See Figs.1, 2 and 3. The two sets of rails 108, 109 are parallel with each otherand support transverse rolls 110 to receive the carton blanks when theyare removed from the stack. At the time when the jaws draw the blankfrom the stack, the yoke lever 100 will be in the tilted position shownin Figs. 2 and 3 and the rear end of 'the blank will drop down onto therails 108 while the forward endwill be in the grip of the jaws. On thenext forward movement of the jaw carrier after the blank has been pulledout of the stack. the blank will he pushed by the jaws back on the saidsupport until the rear end is pushed onto the rails 109. At this pointthe yoke will rise slightly above the position shown in Fig. 3 enoughfor the rolls 110 to raise the blank into engagement with friction feedrolls 111 and the action of said feed rolls 111 will carry the blankfarther back until the rear end of the blank rests on the bases 11:! ofangular rails which extend lengthwise'of the machine, the uprightportions 113 of said rails 112 serving as edge guides for the blank inits subsequent travel to the forming block. The feed rolls 111 arecontinuously driven In the machine shown in the drawings they are drivenby shaft 143 through suitable connections. See F-i 1.

The cam which actuates the yoke levers 100 is so constructed andadjusted that after the blank has been seated on the rolls 110 andpushed. back against the edge uide 113, the said yoke levers will berocked down into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2: A rail114 extends parallel with the ide rail 112, the upper surface of whichis onzthe same level as the base of the guide rail 112 when the yokelevers are in their lowermost position. See Figs. 1 and 2. This isslightlyabove the level of the upper surface of the supporting rolls 110so that when .theyoke levers have dropped to their lowest osition theblank will be supported by the uses of the edge guides 112 and by thesaid rails 114. When in this position it is ready to be transferred to aposition beneath the forming block that-is, to the left as viewed in theplan view, Fig. 1. This will be at r ght angles to the path of travelwhich it took in being withdrawn from the stack and pushed onto thesupporting rolls mounted on the rockin yoke levers. The forming block isnot shown, as the folding mechanism is not claimed in this divisionalapplication, but it lies to the left of the broken end of the rail 114shown in Fig. 1 and at right angles to said rail.

The means for thus moving the blank will now be described. See Figs. 1,2, 9 and 10. A

lever 115 is mounted fast on a rocker shafta roll which engages with acam surface onthe back side of the sealinglap 'glue roll cam 604 to rocksaid shaft 116' at'theproper time so as to draw the u per end of lever115 back, and then when the said roll on the lever 120 rides off of thehigh part of the cam the 'spi'ing117 will rockthe shaft 116 back andthrow the lever 115 forward. This action is so timed that the forwardthrow will occurafter the tilting yoke levers have dropped, down todeposit the blank on the rails 11% and 112, and the result is that thelever 115 will strike the edge of the carton blank a sharp blow andcause it to slide on the rails 114 and 112 far enoughto be engagedbetween upper and lower feed rolls 123 and 121 which carry the blankforward;

There should be at least four sets of feed shoot from the lever 115, andtwo more sets farther on toward the folding mechanism to seize the blankafter it has been partially advanced by the first set, so as to carrythe blank farther along. See Figs. 1, 9-and 10. In Fig. 1 only one feedroll 123 is shown, namely, the farther upper roll of one set.

In Fig. 9 one pair of upper and lower feed rolls are shown, and theparts are broken away to show more clearly the lower feed roll ofanother air. upper and lower fee rolls 123 and'124 are shown in detailin Fig. 10. Preferably the upper feed. rolls 123 have a fiat peripheryand the lower feed rolls.I2.4'have a beveled periphery. The upper feedrolls 123 are each mounted on a shaft 127 which-is unyielding up anddown. The lower feed roll 124 is journaled in a lever 128 whichis'pivoted on stud 129 mounted in bracket 135.. A spring 132 undertension has one end rest- One set of both ing on the real-extension oflever 128 and the other end bears against the under side of a bracket133 mounted on stud 129 thus holding the roll 121 in yielding engagementwith the upper feed roll 123. An adjustable stop screw 131 mounted in aboss on with the frame 136 by a boss 137 set into a recess in the frameand can be removed therefrom so as to entirely remove the feed rolls andthe guides 112 if for any reason.

5 it is desired to remove them to accommodate passage of blanks ofexceptional width. A pinion 138 mounted on shaft 127 en ages with agear. 139 on shaft 140, said she t 140 carryin a bevel gear 141 whichengages with a evel gear 142 mounted on shaft'143. See Fi 1 and 9. Asprocket 131 mounted on she t 143 is connected by a chain .(not shown)with a sprocket (not shown) on shaft 426 (see Fig. 2) whereby the feedrolls 123 are continuously rotated. A pmion 743 mounted on a stud 144also engages with gear 139 and with a gear 145 whereby movement istransmitted to gear (Fig. 1) on a shaft (not shown) for actuating thesecond set of feed rolls. Pinion 138 also enga es with gear 145, but ifpinion 138 toget er with shaft 139 and the connected parts'andfeed'rolls should be removed, as previously described, the second set offeed rolls will still be actuated by power trans" mitted through pinion743.

' In the travel of the blank between the feed rolls 123 and 124 theblank is guided at its rear edge by vertical guides 146 similar to thevertical guides 113, said guides 146-rising from horizontal plates 147which.

support the blank. The plates 147 are slotted to allow the feed rolls123 and 124 to en age the blank. (See Figs. 1 and 9.) Ater the blankpassesofl the supportingand guide plates 147 it is delivered onto ot ersupports and is carried to the folding mechanism by means not necessaryto describe herein.

Means are provided for automatically supplying blanks to the stack, andthe delivery '15 controlled by the blanks in the stack in such mannerthat the feeding mechanism will be rendered inactive when the pile inthe stack rises above a predetermined height. In the mechanism Shownthey are raised bv an elevator to a height reater than the stack andar'ethen discharge one at a time from thetop of the pileon theelevator'down an incline into the stack, and the re ulating means abovementioned stops thee evating mechanism and the discharge mechanism whichdischarges from the elevator into the chute when 'the pile in the stackrises above the redetermin'ed height. I v

The mechanism will now be described. I SeeJFigs. 2,3; 12 -16. Theelevator consists of a, latformQl movable in inclined guides 4eingshomrf-as having axles 493 with betweenthe guides 492. See Fig. 2.The platform is suspended by chains 495, one end of each gchain beingattached to the elevatorpplatform; the chain running up .15 over asprocket 496 (Fig. 16) and having wheels ori-Olls494which run in guideways 1 bevel gear 512 isfast on thcupper en at its othe'r'end a weight497 which takes up the slack in the free end of the chain.

An inclined chute 498 (Figs. 2, 8, 12, 13) v extends from the discharside of the upper end of the elevator wel down to a point 70 somewhatabove the magazine or holder for the stack of blanks from which they arecarried to the former block- At the to '0.

- the incline is an abutment 500 over w ich I shaft or stud 503 (seeFigs. 2 and 3) said as finger extending down at one side of'the stack ofblanks in the holder or magazine that is, at one side of where the pileof blanks will rise if there are enough in the stack to rise above apredetermined height. The said finger is given a vibratory oroscillating movement, swinging out over the top of the blanks in thestack and back again so long as the pile of blanks do not rise highenough to interfere. When the pile of blanks rises above thepredetermined height the finger 502 will strike the edge of the blankswhich will thereby. stop the vibration, because the frame work of themagazine will prevent the blanks from bemg 10o pushed out of themagazine. On the same rocker shaft 503 on which the finger 502.ismounted,.a'.l er 504 is also mounted fast and is pivotany connected withone end of a rod 505. the other end of said rod 505 being pivotallyconnected with a lever 5 06; which is mounted fast on a rocker shaft507.Said. rocker shaft 507 is connected with mechanism for actuating thesame, and also a through intermediate mechanism it actuates the feedroll 501 and controls the mechanism for raising the elevator. When thefinger 502 isrestrained from vibratory movement by its contact with thepile of blanks, the rocker shaft 507 will be prevented from rocking andwill stop the elevating and feeding mechanism. his mechanism-will now bedescribed.

A shaft 508 extends up at an incline alongside of the elevator well insuitable bearings and is in continuous rotation. Figs. 2 and 16. Themeans shown for g'iving it therotation is a bevel gear 509 on shaft 499which. engages 'with a bevel-gear 510 on shaft 508 which is connectedwith main driving mechanism (not shown). A

of ar 513- shaft 508 andcngages with a bevel which is loose on shaft 514so as to be capable ofrotating' on said shaft, but is held againstlongitudinal movement thereon. tFigs. 14, 15, 16). Said shaft 514 isjouriialed in suitable hearings in the frame. A clutch 515 having anannular groove .in its periphery is splined to the shaft 514 in suchmanner as to be slidable thereon but it ro- .-tates therewith. It isprovided with pins 516 which project from the face thereof and at rightangles thereto and are adapted to engage with slots in the face ofthebevel gear 513 and when so engaged the shaft 514 will rotate by means ofthe continuously rotating shaft 508. A spring 517 tends to keep theclutch in engagement with the bevel gear 513, but at certain times theclutch is thrown out and kept from being moved back.

A Worm'518 is mounted on shaft 514 and engages with a Worm gear 519 on ashaft 520 journaled in bearings 522 in the frame. See Fig. 14. Saidshaft 520 carries a worm 521, and said worm 521 engages with. a wormgear 523 which is loose on a shaft 524 so as to be capable of rotatingon said shaft 524, but is held against longitudinal movement thereon. Aclutch disk 525 is splined to shaft 524 in such manner as to rotatetherewith and is slidable thereon. It has two pins 526 which projectfrom the face thereof and at right angles thereto, and are adapted toengage with slots in the face of the worm gear 523. When the clutch isthus engaged the shaft 523' will be rotated by shaft 514 and theintermediate mechanism, provided shaft 514 is rotating. On account ofthe variation in diameter of the connecting gearing the shaft 524 willrotate at a less speed than the shaft 514. The clutch 525 is providedwith a hub 52? formed with an annular groove in which is a collar 528which has pins 529 engaging with the fork 534 of one arm of a bell cranklever 530. Said lever 530 is mounted on shaft 531, and by rocking saidlever the said said clutch 525 may be moved into and out.

of engagement with the Worm gear 523. This lever 530 can be operated bymeans of a hand lever 532 whichis pivotally connected with one end of arod 533, the other end of said rod being pivotally connected with onearm of bell crank 530. (See Figs.

A rocker shaft 535 is .journaled in bearings in the frame of themachine. A plurality of pins-536, preferably four in number as shown,project from the face of the worm gear 523, at right angles thereto, andare disposed at equal distances from each other. A lever 537 is mounted,fast on said shaft 535 and projects down into the path which the pins536 describe when the worm gear 523 rotates. When the worm gear 523rotates, and one of the pins 536 engages the lever 537 it will rock theshaft 535. A torsion spring 538 on said shaft has one end lane,

in a horizontal direction inhearings in the frame, Said lever 539carries a pin 541 which is adapted-to engage with the annular groove inthe clutch 515. See Figs. 15, 16. \Vhen said pin is in engagement withthe groove in the clutch, if the stud 540 is moved longitudinally itwill move the clutch into.

or out of engagement with the bevel gear 513. according to the directionof movement, and thereby give rotation to shaft 514 or stop 'itsrotation, as the case may be.

The sliding movement of the stud 540 is given by a cam-faced arm 542which is mounted on shaft 535 and engages between two rolls 543,- 544fixed to the stud 540. When the shaft 535 rotates in a direction toturn'up the toe of the cam-faced arm 542 as viewed in Fig. 16 theengagement of the cam with the roll 543 will cause the stud 540 to movetoward the left as viewed in said Fig. 16, and when it rocks in thereverse direction the other side of the cam will by engagement with theroll 544 cause the stud 540 to move to the ri ht. The pin, however, islifted out of t e groove before the movement of the stud 540 to theleft, and

--lug through which the rod 546 passes is made flaring to allow pro erplay for the rod and for the rocking of one arm of a lever 547 mountedfast on rocker shaft 507, the other arm of said lever 547 carrying aroll 548' which engages with a cam 549 mounted on shaft 508, therebygiving a continuous rocking movement to the lever 547.

The clutch 525 is made cone shaped withtapering sides, which are adaptedto fit into 'a cone-shaped recess 551 inthe case 'sufiitight so thatwhen, the clutch is cientl pulle back by means of the lever 530 out ofengagement with the worm gear 523 into said recess 551 the walls of sadrecess will the spring 517 then throws the clutch-into 115 the lever.The lower end of the rod 546 is'connected with form a frictional brakeon the clutch when the shaft 524 is allowed to rotate. When the elevatorhas reached the top of its movement and it is desired to allow ittodescend to be filled up again with blanks the clutch 525will be thusdisengaged by means of the hand lever, and the wei ht of the elevatorwill be sufficient to cause it to descend, thereby rotating the shaft524 backward. and the walls of said recess 551 will, as above described,constitute a brake to retard the rapid descent of the elevator.

Assuming that the clutch 51.5 is in engage ment with the bevel gear 513by means of the pins 516, the shaft 508 which is constantl rotating willrotate the shaft 514 and thereby through the Worm 518, worm gear 519,shaft 520 and worm 521, rotate the worm gear 523 on shaft 524, and ifthe clutch 525 has been engaged'with the worm gear 523, shaft 524 willbe caused to rotate also, thereby rotating the sprocket wheels 496 andraising the elevator. The rotation of the shaft 514 will cause the feedwheel 501 to rotate and feed the blank down the chute 498, and therotation of the shaft 524 will cause the elevator to bring another blankup into position to be engaged by the feed roll 501.

When durin the rotation of the. worm gear 523 whic as already described,is slower than the rotation of the shaft 514, one of the pins 536projecting from the worm gear 523 engages with the lever 537, said 1 ver537 will be rocked up, thereby turni g the shaft 535 against the tensionof the spring 538 and turning up the toe of the cam 542. This is theposition shown in Figs. 14, 15 and 16 of the drawings, one of the pins536 being just about ready to ride away from engagement with the lever537. As soon as the worm gear 523 has moved a little past the positionshown in Figs. 14 and 16 and far enough to release the pin 536 from thelever 537, the torsion of the spring 538 will cause the shaft 535 torock back, thereby causing that face ofthe cam 542 which is inengagement with the roll 544 to gagement of the to xnove up and rockthe'shaft 507.

push the stud 540 to the right of the position shown in Fig. 16and, byreason of the enpin 541 with the annular V0 in the clutchi515, theclutch 515 will moved to the right, disengaging'the clutch from thebevel gear 513 and compressing the-spring 517. so that'nowthe shafts 514and, 524 will be-brought toa standstill.

- A spr' 550 has one end fast tothe rod 505 and e other end fast to thechute. When-the rod 505 is in its downward positiotl .the spring isunder tension. When the shaft 508 has rotated far enough to bring thelow part of the cam 549 into engagement .with the roll 548 on lever 547the spring 550 will contract, thereby causing the rod 505 will turn thelever 547 in a direction for the roll 548 to follow down on the low partof the cam 549 and for the left arm of the lever 547 viewed in thedirection. of Fig. 14 to turn up, thereby lifting the rod 546 and thelever 539 and thereby raising the pin 541 out of the annular groove inthe clutch 515. The clutch 515 will then be free to respond to theexpansion of the spring 517 and throw the clutch back into engagementwith the bevel gear 513 so that the shafts 514 and 524 will again beginto revolve and operate the feed roll 501 and the elevator. At the beginning of this new rotary movement of the shaft 514 the stud 540 willbe left in. its right-hand position to which it was carried by thebackward rocking movement of the cam 542, the lever 539 being in itsturned-up position, holding the pin 541 above the annular flange of theclutch 514. As soon, however, as the worm gear 523 has rotated farenough for one of the pins 536 to turn up the lever 537 the shaft 535will be rocked in a direction .to carry the toeof the cam 542 forwardand up so as to slide the stud 540 to the left and to bring the pin 541directly in alinement with the annular groove in the clutch 515, butstill held above the groove. As soon as the high part of the cam 549 hascome into engagement with the roll 548 on the lever 547 said lever 547will be rocked in a direction to pull down the rod 546 and allow the pin541 to drop into the annulargroove in the clutch 515. The 1ever 539being fulcrumed at one end on the stud 540, the other end of said leverbeing free to rise and fall as allowed by the loose play of the rod 546in the slot in the .boss 545 of said lever, gravity will be sufiicientto cause said lever 539 to drop down in the manner above described andthe operation will be continued.

Assuming, however, that the pile of blanks in the stock has risen. highenough to prevent the finger 502 from swinging, then the connecting rod505 will-be unable to respond-to the clutch will not be free to respondto the pull of the spring 517 and therefore the clutch will remalndisengaged from the bevel gear 513 until such time as the pile of blanksin the stack has become lowered sufficlefillily to allow the finger 502to swing forwar When the stud 540slides in either one direction or theother, the lever.539 which is This. fast tosaid stud will move with itbroadmechanism which is normally side, although it has the rockingmovement up and down. For this reason the vertical rod 546 is looselyconnected with the lever 547 in such manner that it can rock on its axisin a vertical plane.

What I claim is: v

1. In a machine for feedin carton blanks, a magazine to hold a stack 0blanks, a movable separator device which enters between the lowermostblank and the superposed stack of blanks, and. separates the super posedstack at the edge thereof from said. lowermost blank, reciprocablegripping away from the magazine while the separator is moving forward,means which move the gripping mech anism bodily forward and cause it togrip the lowermost blank after the superposed stack has been separatedtherefrom and to then move the gripping mechanism away from themagazine, pulling the said lowermost blank therefrom, and means whichcontrol the movement of the separator and the movement of the grippingjaws with rela tion to each other in such manner that the separator willbe moved into separating engagement with the superposed stack before thegripping jaws move into on agement with the lowermost blank and will bemoved backward after the gripping jaws have pulled the lowermost blankfrom the stack,

2. In a machine for feeding carton blanks, a magazine to hold stack ofblanks, means for withdrawing the blanks from the bottom of the stackone at a time, each blank withdrawn being always the lowermost blank inthe stack for the time being, means for supplying blanks to the top ofthe stack,

and means whereby the height of the stackof blanks in the magazinecontrols the actue tion of the supply.

In a machine "for feeding carton. blanks, a magazine to hold. a stack ofblanks super posed upon one another in registration with each other,means for extracting the blanks from the stack one at a time, each blankwithdrawn being always the lowermost blank in the stack for the timebeing, means for supplying blanks to the top of the stack, and meanswhereby the height of the stack of blanks in the magazine controls theactuation of the supply. j

4. In a machine for feeding carton blanks, a magazine to h d a stack ofblanks, a pair of gripping ja i. means for moving the said jaws towardand from the stack, means for causing the gripping jaws to seize one ofthe blanks in the magazine when it moves forward and to withdraw theblank when it moves backward, and cutting means connee-ted with saidjaws to slit the blank when the jaws close upon the blank.

5. In a machine for feeding carton blanks, a magazine to hold a stack ofblanks, means for w thdrawing blanks from the magazine,

a source ofsupply for keeping the magazine supplied with blanks, an1ncl1ned chute risingabove the magazine, and down which the blanks aredelivered from said source of v supply to the magazine, and meanscontrolled by the blanks in the magazine so constructed and arrangedthat if the stack in the magazine rises above a predetermined height thedelivery of the blanks to said inclined chute will be checked.

6. In a. machine for 'feedin a n'iagazine to hold a stack 0 forwithdrawing blanks from the magazine, a source of supply for keeping themagazine supplied with blanks, an inclined chute rising above themagazine, and down which the blanks are delivered from said source ofsupply to the magazine, means for selecting one blank ata time from saidsource of supply and causing it to pass down said inclined chute to saidmagazine, and means controlled by the blanks in the magazim-i soconstructed and arranged that if the stack in the magazine rises above apredetermined height the delivery of the blanks to said inclined chutewill be checked.

7 In a machine for feeding carton blanks, a magazine to hold a stack ofblanks in such carton blanks, blanks, means manner that the flap ends ofthe blanks proprojectingends of the superposed blanks,

and movable gripping mechanism which moves bodily toward the bent downportion of the lowermost blank and seizes it, and then bodily retreats,withdrawing the said 'bla-nk from the ma azine.

8. In a machine or feedin carton blanks, a magazine to hold a stack 0%blanks in such manner that the flap ends of the blanks project out ofthe magazine, a gluing device, means for moving the under face of theprojecting part of the lowermost blank for a portion only of its width,thus causing the said projecting por tion to bend slightly downward,said gluing device then moving away from engagement with the saidlowermost blank, a movable separator device which enters between thesaid bent down portion of the lowermost blank and the superposed blanksand slightly lifts the projecting ends offthe the gluing device acrosssul'ierposed blanks, and movable gripping down flap of said lowermostblank and withdraws said blank out of the stack.

9. In a machine for feeding carton blanks a magazine to hold a stack ofblanks in such manner that the flap ends of the blanks project out ofthe magazine, a convex faced gluing pad, meansfor actuating said gluingpad in such manner that the convex face movesover a portion only of thewidth of the under face of the projectin portion of the lowermost blankin'the stac and thereby causes said projecting portion of the lowermostblank to bend downward from the superposed blanks the projecting portionbeing left unglned for a portion of its width, a. movable separatordevice, means for moving said separator device in such a manner as tocause it to enter between the downwardly bent portion of the saidlowermost blank and the superposed stack of blanks and lift the ends ofthe superposed blanks, gripping jaws and means for actu ating saidripping jaws to move forward and seize t e downwardly bent portion ofmagazine.

the said lowermost blank at an unglned portion thereof and then to movebackward and pull the said lowermost blank out of the 10. In a machinefor feedin blanks, a magazine to hold a stack of blan '3 in superposedrelation to each other, reciprocable gripping mechanism, means forreciprocating the jaws toward and from the lowermost blank in the stack,means for causing the jaws to grip the lowermost blank at the end of aforward movement, means for causing the to move back far enough to withdraw the blank from the stack and then. move forward again while stillgripping the blank, and means for causing the 'aws to release the blankafter it is carried orward a nedetermined distance.

V In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

GEORGE A. ROBINSON.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM A. COPELAND, Amen H. MORRISON.

